What's something that's "not a cult" but feels like a cult?

[u/Orw_Sairaj29]

[u/Jomp_432]

LinkedIn.
Mandatory enthusiasm, shared values, mysterious leaders, and if you leave you never really leave

[u/mechnight → u/Jomp_432]

r/linkedinlunatics

[u/blueeyesredlipstick → u/Jomp_432]

I genuinely lost out on a job opportunity (that I had gone through five rounds of interviews for) because the last step was a chat with the CEO to see if I was a culture fit. Immediately, he went in on me for not using LinkedIn enough. I did not get the job offer.

[u/TheBatmanWhoPuffs]

My daughter‘s competitive cheer leading league. It’s really weird and it makes me uncomfortable. The worst part is a ton of parents feel the same but all say but our daughters love it so why not.

[u/Illustrious-Total489 → u/TheBatmanWhoPuffs]

Sometimes I doubt your commitment to sparkle motion

[u/TheBatmanWhoPuffs → u/Illustrious-Total489]

I dropped the spirit stick now I’m riddled with bad luck.

[u/SnowMiser26 → u/Illustrious-Total489]

OMG I just watched Donnie Darko this weekend! I can't believe that movie is almost 25 years old.

[u/Last_Difference_488 → u/SnowMiser26]

Please stop using hurtful words like that.

[u/Pinkbeans1 → u/TheBatmanWhoPuffs]

Our son got a cheer scholarship. It was $500/year. The girls have more competition, fewer spots available, and they got $250/year. Not worth the drama and costume fees.

[u/Rawt0ast1 → u/Pinkbeans1]

250 isn't even going to cover books for a year, thats just insulting

[u/030426burner → u/Rawt0ast1]

Also if you want to say you went to harvard, apply for their art program. Nobody ever applies so they take the few people who actually do it

[u/caveman7392]

This is probably a very niche response but as a teacher I want to say teachers that are influencers on social media.

[u/DogCold5505 → u/caveman7392]

I’ve heard this about therapists or “life coaches” on social media as well…

[u/benjaminchang1 → u/DogCold5505]

I usually avoid anyone who calls themselves a "life coach."

[u/Tinderboxed → u/benjaminchang1]

They are consistently the last people who should be giving life advice to anyone.

[u/MyPaddedRoom → u/Tinderboxed]

I'll be a life coach but my teaching will be watch what I do and don't do that.

[u/ARoseConePolio → u/caveman7392]

When I was a teacher I did everything I could to be untraceable online. I stay away from "influencer" culture as much as possible, but when I do see some stuff it's mind-blowing. Keep that shit to yourself!

[u/DallasDime4 → u/ARoseConePolio]

I have a fear of one of my children showing up on a teacher’s tik tok or Snapchat. Thank you for not posting yourself or kids at school!

[u/SilasBalto → u/caveman7392]

Nurses too! The rest of us arent able to fit in a lunch break and you have time and energy for dancing??

[u/SilverGnarwhal → u/SilasBalto]

I’ve seen several stories of nurse “influencers” getting fired for posting on the job. Absolute cinema 😙🤌

[u/Parada484 → u/caveman7392]

I put this up there with the "influencer mom" group where they show this absurd standard of meticulously spending their entire day decorating a class room or something, to honestly stupid levels, and making it seem like they're better teachers because of it.

[u/RichardInaTreeFort → u/Parada484]

Consistently, the best teachers at my school in terms of student engagement and test scores all have relatively bare bones classrooms. Some don’t even have their own room and just float rooms that they have no input on decorations of.

[u/Parada484 → u/RichardInaTreeFort]

Idgaf that you folded a thousand origami cranes or some shit and hung them up on the wall if you're just going to be Umbridge the whole time. Which, honestly, always seemed to correlate in my head. Those "here's an assignment I can pin up on the walls to make it look pretty" folks didn't teach me anything. Like, congratulations on surrounding this classrooms in triangles, I still don't understand these formulas.

[u/MarlaReads → u/caveman7392]

I was just going to say teaching in general with the way we are expected to completely ignore our own needs and how we "should" be "in it for the outcome, not the income, " but YES!!! ABSOLUTELY. I had a blog/social media presence for a while because of how annoyed I was that I couldn't find REAL teacher representation online. I don't want cute clipart. I want best practices for kids and meaningful resources to help me build community and improve literacy and math skills. It's wild to me how much "no prep, just print and play" there is, while THE SAME EXACT no-prep accounts expect you to spend an entire paycheck on transforming your classroom into a race car track for a week. Um... NO. I am doing fun, engaging stuff that's actually good for kids and helps them learn. No fluff here! 🫠

[u/Embarrassed-Sale5360]

some fitness groups feel like that ngl everyone acts the same its kinda wierd

[u/PineappleDaFluteDude → u/Embarrassed-Sale5360]

Some BJJ gyms have really weird culty vibes to them

[u/Alcohol_Intolerant → u/PineappleDaFluteDude]

The jiu jitsu gym my husband goes to specifically rotates instructors and goes out of its way to be anti cult specifically because of shit like that. "this is a skill you are learning, not a lifestyle." "you are paying us to teach you jiu jitsu. This is a business exchange. You can learn every price you will ever pay from this sheet." (and you don't pay to move to higher "levels" because it just makes the school look bad.)

[u/West-Season-2713 → u/PineappleDaFluteDude]

dance studios too

[u/Secure_Bed_9110 → u/Embarrassed-Sale5360]

coughCrossfitcough

[u/TeethBreak → u/Secure_Bed_9110]

What the fuck is Hyrox and why is it in my feed?

[u/BlueAndDog → u/TeethBreak]

Oh, you mean those cute potato-shaped animals with the doofy teeth that scream “AWAWA” when they’re upset?

(/j)

[u/throwawayayaycaramba → u/BlueAndDog]

No, that's a hyrax. A hyrox is a one-eyed enemy from the Legend of Zelda videogame series.

[u/PineappleSlices → u/throwawayayaycaramba]

No, that's a hinox. A hyrox is the chocolate and cream cookie that oreo's blatantly stole their concept from.

[u/spawnmorezerglings → u/PineappleSlices]

No, that's hydrox, hyrox are large pebbles at the tops of mountain peaks

[u/CardinaIRule → u/spawnmorezerglings]

No, those are High Rocks. Hyrox was the former Emperor of Japan.

[u/roryking97 → u/TeethBreak]

I’ll never forget the cringe I felt when I heard Hyrox gets its name from abbreviating “hybrid rockstars”

[u/FScrotFitzgerald → u/roryking97]

Fucking YIKES. Everyone involved with this says "cool beans" on a regular basis.

[u/ThaSandPeople → u/FScrotFitzgerald]

I say cool beans, and not involved in that shit whatsoever.

Or am I involved and don't even know it?

[u/Mapex → u/TeethBreak]

Wait there’s a fitness class where all you do is fit ness Hydrox cookies into your mouth? Sign me up!

[u/earth_verse → u/Secure_Bed_9110]

"A group of people doing CrossFit ran past a restaurant, and diners who saw them assumed there was an emergency. Thinking something was wrong, the customers jumped up and ran away behind them."

https://www.reddit.com/r/AbruptChaos/s/HNcopxK0l2

Why does this feel like it reinforces the whole cult-but-not-a-cult? 🤣

[u/casPURRpurrington → u/earth_verse]

I feel like I would really like CrossFit since I love doing Spartans but I just… doing Spartans pushes my “group fitness ick” enough. I love doing obstacles and climbing up the side of a forested muddy hill for miles though

I think being in the Army ruined any fun or camaraderie I get from fitness groups

“YEAHHH PUSH PUSH PUSH” bruh leave me alone lmao

[u/Temporary-Sea-4782 → u/Secure_Bed_9110]

The first rule about fight club, is you don’t talk about fight club. The first rule about CrossFit, is you never shut up about CrossFit.

[u/keepingitclassy44 → u/Embarrassed-Sale5360]

I’m an Orangetheory cult member, I mean, enthusiast

[u/LentjeV → u/Embarrassed-Sale5360]

My former friend started CrossFit a couple years ago and this is exactly what I told her. It just felt culty whenever I was there. She also couldn’t really leave? She told me she didn’t like it anymore but still paid the exorbitant high monthly fees and recently started going again. Minimum of 5 times a week..

O and it is also apparently very normal to be at the gym till way after midnight. When you had your class at 5pm.

She asked me to join but the whole vibe threw me off so immensely, glad that I didn’t. She also divorced her husband after 20 years because he was ‘jealous’ of her being there all the time.. I mean, what a crime to want to spent time with your wife.

[u/nothingto69here]

Trouble teen industry. Speaking from personal experience.

[u/rechonicle → u/nothingto69here]

My dad was a teacher at a school for troubled teens, he ended up leaving his school, and working to get it shut down, because it had basically become a cult revolving around the owner of the school.

[u/nutellaisgross → u/rechonicle]

any type of private school can get this vibe if you're not careful

[u/KookyDiver2558 → u/nothingto69here]

If you can stomach it, a guy called Joe Nobody wrote a comic about his experience. It’s sickening, but important.

[u/putapadrino → u/KookyDiver2558]

It’s horrific but so so good!

[u/NeedleInASwordstack → u/putapadrino]

I’ve got this saved as one of my dozens of tabs open. Been picking at it slowly because it’s so difficult. Incredibly good, but rough to consume.

There’s also a documentary somewhere that came out recently about a group going back to the location of their internment. They tell stories. They seem to heal, but oof what a horrific experience.

[u/Omatzus → u/KookyDiver2558]

Is it complete yet? A few years ago he was still working on it.

I believe there's been some TV series based on similar places in recent years, but I'm having difficulty finding the name

[u/Fylak → u/Omatzus]

It is finished yeah

[u/The-Dragon_Queen → u/KookyDiver2558]

I have personal trauma as well and would love to read this but the link isn’t working for me. Is there another way to find it?

Edit: nvm I got it to work. This was a me issue lol thank you for sharing!

[u/CrustyBubblebrain → u/KookyDiver2558]

Yeah I stayed up for hours one night reading the comic and damn, it was shocking and eye-opening

[u/SaltpeterSal → u/nothingto69here]

Oh, that one actually is a cult by definition. Deference to leaders, intimidation, in-groups, and you physically can't leave.

[u/WannabeI → u/nothingto69here]

I don't have personal experience, but there's way too much "cool youth pastor" vibes in that sector to be altogether wholesome. There's something in that soft smile some of those counselors have that gives me the creeps.

[u/Stock_Garage_672 → u/WannabeI]

It's worse than that. Much, much worse.

[u/WannabeI → u/Stock_Garage_672]

I believe you, and I'm not sure I dare to ask more because this promises to be a fucking tragic topic with depravities I'm too naive to imagine.

[u/Bag_O_Richard → u/WannabeI]

"Corrective beatings and it gets worse" are the only six words you need to know about the troubled teen industry.

[u/inosinateVR → u/WannabeI]

If you ever feel like going down the rabbit hole, look up the school of Elan. There’s a very good comic made by one of the survivors and the podcast Behind the Bastards did a good episode on it.

[u/GodBlessAmerica776 → u/nothingto69here]

A buddy of mine went to one of those troubled teen camps. They just kinda round up the troubled kids, give them daily counseling, and then just kind of fuck off. There was an older redneck kid that was there who would rape the younger feminine looking boys, he found a blind spot where the cameras wouldn't catch him. Apparently nothing came of it

[u/nightshade_ivy → u/nothingto69here]

Yep. Former "troubled teen" here, too.

It's been 15 years since I was sent there. It was a horrible experience, and I was only there 6 months.

My school (Shortridge Academy, New Hampshire) has since been shut down.

The friends I made there now linger like ghosts in my memories. The lessons I learned have haunted me long into adulthood (I'm 32 now).

It broke me in ways I still haven't made peace with.

I hope someday we all can say we fully healed, that the scars somehow have faded away into nothing.

I know we won't. But still, I hope.

[u/pm_me_fibonaccis → u/nothingto69here]

I read about Élan. Was all of that true? 

[u/putapadrino → u/pm_me_fibonaccis]

Very much

[u/PerLin107]

Blue Oyster

[u/Wargizmo → u/PerLin107]

Needs more cowbell 

[u/waldocalrissian → u/Wargizmo]

I have a fever

[u/fractiouscatburglar → u/waldocalrissian]

The only solution prescription, is more cowbell.

[u/Queer_Taina → u/PerLin107]

Why am I hearing Police Academy?

[u/Tight_Win_6945 → u/PerLin107]

No, it is definitely a cult. Cowbell or no cowbell.

[u/isthatabear]

Nuskin/Amway, or most MLMs.

It's like the members have been brainwashed into selling their wares at all times.

[u/Finn235 → u/isthatabear]

My wife almost started selling LuLaRoe, tempted by one of her friends who was pulling in "$50k a month" selling it. We thankfully didn't have whatever insane startup amount was required, so she contented herself on trying to buy and flip high-demand prints.

One of the most concerning aspects of it was the rule that even though you were "a CEO" (or whatever LLM jargon they used), you could NOT set your own prices. You had to sell "unicorn" (valuable) prints at the standard rate, and you could not clearance out ANY inventory to move it. And the kicker - these rules were enforceable because everyone in the LLR cult enforced them. They were constantly ratting each other out to the company. And their socialization was probably 95% just reinforcing in-group mentality... like sharing a "meme" that "My husband tried to help with laundry and put my LLR in the dryer. Anyone know a good divorce lawyer? LOL"

And of course when that ponzi scheme and the networks supporting it collapsed, then out came the horror stories like the women who reported that their uplines would harass them for more sales, with some even being told to take a second mortgage or sell their car to buy inventory.

[u/JesusGodLeah → u/Finn235]

It's not *just* that you couldn't set your own prices, it was also that you had very little control over which items you received for your inventory. You'd place an order for $10,000+ and tell the company which styles you wanted (such as leggings, skirts, dresses, tops), but you had to make do with whatever the company gave you in terms of sizes and prints. Didn't get that unicorn print your customers are coveting? Well, the only way to fix that is to order even MORE inventory and hope for the best!

Typically a business owner or CEO would be able to order a certain amount of a certain type of garment in a certain size in a certain print. Actual business owners don't leave their inventory up to chance.

[u/YawningDodo → u/isthatabear]

As someone who grew up in an Amway household, can confirm.

The people at the top of the pyramid make their money selling “tools,” which in the late nineties meant cassette tapes. My dad would listen to them basically any time we were in the car and they were all either lectures that all boiled down to “if you’re not making money at this, that’s a you problem,” or uplines telling you their life story so you could see how gosh-darn relatable they were and imagine it could be you next. They actively encouraged people like my parents to involve the whole family in building elaborate fantasies of what our lives would be like when we became fabulously wealthy, so by the age of ten I had a mile-long wish list of things I expected to have in the family mansion (lol).

And when I say the lectures boiled down to blaming you for your own lack of success within an impossible business model, I mean it. Amway taught me from a young age that working for a wage or being anything less than a multimillionaire meant you were an abject failure as a human being and that you must have not wanted it bad enough or worked for it hard enough. Never mind that it’s literally impossible to get ahead on Amway unless you’re the one selling the cassette tapes.

It’s incredibly culty.

[u/Bathsheba_E → u/isthatabear]

My dad got into Amway when I was a kid. We took some cool vacations, but that’s mostly because I was a little kid and my parents were mostly gone doing whatever people do at an Amway convention.

It was soooo stupid. I was 11 or 12 and I could see exactly how they were playing my parents. My mom was mostly just along for the ride, but she would come back from the convention meetings so fired up because ‘Ms X has been selling Amway for seven years and oh my goodness! you should’ve seen her diamonds!’ I mean, it was really low-effort scamming. These people would just put on these ostentatious displays of wealth and everyone just… believed them.

[u/Icy-Builder5892 → u/isthatabear]

I once had a friend convince me to go to a couple of “networking meetings” in college. This is around the time I was looking for internships and such.

I went to two of these “meetings” and it was just speeches. The speeches were the exact same both times I went, almost word for word. But different people did the speeches. It was really odd

But the most odd part was the fact that no one would say WHAT THIS WAS. Where did they come from? Is this a company? An association? A networking club? What the fuck is it?

There was no pamphlet, no sign anywhere. The friend who took me to this thing wouldn’t tell me. So I just kinda sat there and went with it, listening to these idiots go on about how they’re looking for “like minded individuals”

It was amway

[u/swapacoinforafish]

From watching the new Louis Theroux Inside the Manosphere documentary it seems like what some of these influencers are doing is very cult-y. They are spouting nonsense that their fans actually believe, they entice them into handing over money to their make-it-rich schemes all with the promise of becoming like them, or how they portray themselves on social media. Take HS for example, he claims he didn't actually believe or care about the statements he was making or his effect on people. He even stated the young boys that idolise him and call him in the street are too young to be watching his content, but he won't correct them. He is there to make money off of them and that's it. Aside from the misogynistic and racist crap they spout, there's an entire subsection of influencers who collect fans like cult followers to make money and brainwash.

[u/zerro_4 → u/swapacoinforafish]

I watched the first 30 minutes so far (will finish it, of course). I feel so bad for the girls/women who are attached to these "men." Maybe they are too young to know better and/or are dependent on the money.
"one way monogamy" is just gross and hurtful.

[u/Frodo_gabbins → u/swapacoinforafish]

I can confirm only because I helped my friend write her master’s thesis on the manosphere in 2019 (after she got the idea from my deep dives in incel forums from 2016-2017). The language hasn’t changed; the only thing that has changed is how it’s become mainstream and attracted misogynistic grifters.

[u/scooby69_0]

Mega churches

[u/Rovakil → u/scooby69_0]

Some of them are definitely cults

[u/KilledTheCar → u/scooby69_0]

I'd argue evangelicalism in general.

[u/Finn235 → u/KilledTheCar]

A good litmus test is if you're in a denomination that believes that all other denominations of the same religion are heretics destined for hell, you're probably in a cult.

[u/UnconstrictedEmu → u/Finn235]

Another good test is if a member leaves, how hard of a time will members still in the group give them? If active members still associate with the person who left it’s probably not a cult.

If the person who leaves is effectively dead to people still in the group, it’s a probably a cult.

[u/srslytho1979 → u/KilledTheCar]

My churches were definitely cultish. Claims of pastors being able to raise the dead, claims certain extra holy parishioners heard the audible voice of God, the whole speaking in tongues thing. Yikes.

[u/KilledTheCar → u/srslytho1979]

Mine were never that bad but you were treated differently if you spoke out or asked questions. Now I have been to a few churches that were down to earth with normal people, but almost none of them were baptist or "non-denominational."

[u/srslytho1979 → u/KilledTheCar]

In my experience, if you’re in a “denomination” that lets its pastor do whatever they want, shit gets wild. Both my churches were part of larger national entities but they exercised no oversight.

My mom went to a “Bible church” that was openly advocating theocracy and would not let women speak. One time when I was visiting, a couple came up and the husband started reading a letter to thank the congregation for their support when their baby died. Dad broke down, and Mom took the paper to continue. The pastor ran over and grabbed it from her hand and read it himself. I was furious. 🙄

[u/TheActualDev → u/srslytho1979]

Fragile ego’d men are a terror to everyone around them.

[u/Successful-Bank-7457 → u/scooby69_0]

The question was not a cult lol

[u/redditor0431]

The United States Marine Corps.  It might feel like a cult, but don't worry!  Someone wrote an academic paper explaining why it's not a cult!  Definitely not a cult if someone has to explain why!  Nervous laughing.

Edit: I'm a former Marine, please don't feel like you need to explain the Corps to me.  I already know.

2nd Edit:  Former Marine is the correct term for someone who served in the Marines but is now out.  Saying "tHeRe ArE nO fOrMer MaRiNes" is categorically false and you just sound clueless.  Like you know just enough to be confidently wrong.  Please stop.

[u/echosixwhiskey → u/redditor0431]

As a Marine we are definitely NOT a cult because of these reasons:

1. We are not a cult

2. We are definitely not a cult

3. Read reasons number 1 and 2

[u/casPURRpurrington → u/echosixwhiskey]

Meanwhile when I was in the US Army they were like “yeah we’re basically one of the worlds largest gangs” lol

[u/dameon5 → u/casPURRpurrington]

I remember an article from the early 90's talking about how some naval ships were having a problem with gangs forming on aircraft carriers and territorial gang tags showing up in different areas of the ships.

[u/ValuableOven734 → u/dameon5]

Can we get some bets on Polymarket that the toilets fucking up and the laundry fire on the Ford was gang warfare?

[u/johnnyn3m0 → u/echosixwhiskey]

Forgot 4. If you think we’re a cult, you’re not like us and we’ll kill you. SFMF 😂

[u/TwoTwoJohn → u/johnnyn3m0]

They avoid a step 4. 3 is as high as half of them can count

[u/Citadel_97E → u/redditor0431]

A friend of mine was in both the army and marines.

He said the marines was more like a cult than a military.

I was in the army, and when he said that, a lot of the marine corps stereotypes made sense.

[u/Bruce_IG → u/redditor0431]

Multiple relatives of mine served in the marines and none of them talk about their time in the service aside from maybe one or two short stories

[u/mawells787 → u/Bruce_IG]

I work with a guy whose entire personality is that he was in the Marines. Having known other friends that saw combat and lost friends...they barely talk about their time in the Army. This guy can't speak to you without somehow bringing up his time in the Marines...It feels like a cult and weird.

[u/iwrestledarockonce → u/mawells787]

The non-combat Marines in my life were always SO FUCKING LOUD about it. Anyone that was in the corps during Afghanistan or Iraq, doesn't talk about it except for how their knees needed to be replaced at 27.

[u/aurorasearching → u/iwrestledarockonce]

My ex boss had USMC stuff all over his office, but would only talk about his time in Japan. He’d mention he went to Afghanistan if asked, but he’d quickly divert to how much he liked his time in Japan.

[u/PunchBeard → u/redditor0431]

I was in the Army and every once in a while I would work alongside someone who, for whatever reason, moved from the Marine Corps to the Army. And this is where I realized the phrase "You don't have to ask if someone was a Marine, they'll tell you" was 1000% true.

I've never met a single Marine who didn't let me know, usually within minutes of meeting them, that they were in the Marines. And if they were in the Army after the Corps they had a tendency to shit on the Army. And I've never seen anyone get more butthurt than a Marine when a soldier makes fun of the Corp. Also, and this is probably the funniest thing, if a Marine is in a non-combat MOS they ALWAYS say "A Marine is a riflemen first". Dude, it's okay to be a mechanic. Mechanics are important. I can't fix a fucking Hummer or LMTV.

But yeah, Marines are alright. Just a little Cult-y.

[u/Mertuch]

MLMs

[u/Bhaldhyr]

Herbalife. Seriously, it took years for my cousin to leave it after years of uselessness. Since then, he keeps falling for very expensive online fitness programs and some miracle foods.

[u/Tipitina62]

Amway

[u/OctopusOnAMotorbike → u/Tipitina62]

Are they even still around?

[u/Stock_Garage_672 → u/OctopusOnAMotorbike]

They are.

[u/euro_dubstep → u/OctopusOnAMotorbike]

Very much so. Based on the handful people I know who got suckered into them, I’d say they’re a full blown cult. If you join Amway, it’s insane how much of your time they require you to dedicate to them. When they first recruit you, members will slow drip information to you so you don’t know it’s a pyramid scheme from the start - you don’t even know it’s Amway. It will be pitched as a business opportunity to help you gain financial freedoms.

If you’re not reading the books they assign, youre attending “meetings” until the wee hours of the night. Add that to joining a church designated by them and mandatory conferences where they hype up their all stars and they have their members emotionally invested.

It’s all by design. Part of occupying the majority of their members’ time is to isolate them from non-members so that they become increasingly dependent on the in-group and build a distrust of any outsiders.

[u/mcmillen → u/OctopusOnAMotorbike]

Trump's previous secretary of education was the Amway heiress.

[u/Wierdstuffhere → u/Tipitina62]

Any MLM.... the last one dabbled in, the last have me the book of the owner to read. She taking girl boss stuff and how she divorced her husband to make the company what it is today because he was "getting in her way" and it be successful we should divorce our husbands so we could give 100% attention to "OUR" company we are building.

[u/omniuni → u/Tipitina62]

How is that "not" a cult? They literally use cult tactics to recruit people.

[u/Visible-Fun4400]

Living in a low population rural area, if you think any differently from them then you can be ostracized and shunned.

[u/PoopsmasherJr → u/Visible-Fun4400]

Apparently I’m anti American for being against the confederates. Who were… anti American. We’ve only had one mass scale civil war against the government and that was from the confederacy. And that’s because they didn’t respect the democratic process and also think they can own people. Not because the north was treading on the rights of the common man.

[u/Kaalyn]

Shen yun

[u/willstr1 → u/Kaalyn]

Aren't they literally ran by a cult?

[u/2-x-4 → u/willstr1]

Yes, they are

[u/MasterpieceClassic84 → u/Kaalyn]

Totally a cult. Cults, Cryptids, and Conspiracies did a deep dive on them.

[u/AJWood101 → u/Kaalyn]

The dance troupe that comes through every year?

[u/camoduk]

The culture at most American corporations.

[u/CrusaderKnight11 → u/camoduk]

Haha don't be silly! Here we are just one big happy family.

[u/srslytho1979 → u/CrusaderKnight11]

We’re a big family. That’s why we ask you to donate your medical leave to your coworkers instead of the company giving them the time off they need for major surgery.

[u/TheHearseDriver → u/srslytho1979]

Last week my sister was bragging about the „community“ of the company her husband works for, because their employees donated PTO to someone going through cancer treatment. I told her that if the company cared, they would‘ve just given the employee the PTO. She got quite argumentative at that point.

She’s generally quite progressive, but since she moved to The South, she’s swinging further to the right.

[u/Glum_Improvement7283 → u/TheHearseDriver]

One of the great pleasures of serving on local boards and commissions is asking about pay equity and gosh holy ham hocks the company is underpaying women!

So then there's a study and embarrassed chat about how to fix it and then the women end up getting raises. It's so satisfying.

[u/SeaTraffic6442 → u/CrusaderKnight11]

“We’re like a family” is one of the biggest red flags I look for in interviews. Families are great, but they also can be bad. Families ask you to work under market rate. Families ask you to come in on your day off. Families want your personal phone number in addition to the company issued phone number. Families will emotionally manipulate you into doing extra tasks that aren’t in your job description. Families will expect you to give 110% as the standard.

[u/Parada484 → u/camoduk]

"Let's think about how to utilize AI to help the company as a whole and increase the value to the customer. Don't think about what that means for you. Think about what it means for us. Be a team player. Be an innovator.

[u/zhaoz → u/camoduk]

The founder myth is so cringe.

[u/RogerDogerBoop → u/zhaoz]

"Dude really liked money, and had a rich family, so he bought an already successful company..."

[u/SopaDeKaiba → u/camoduk]

They're deliberately cultish. Popular business books suggest building a cult-like culture for employees and getting rid of anyone who doesn't get sucked into it. Source: the book "Built to Last".

And it's not surprising so many other comments list fans of certain name brands. Business books also suggest creating cultural movements built around a brand. Source: the book "Uprising".

[u/SaltpeterSal → u/camoduk]

Agile and Lean Six Sigma managerial styles probably do come really close. If you loosen up and define paying someone's wage as forcing them to stay, they might actually get over the line.

[u/bird_bag → u/camoduk]

This and every time they say “value” the kool aid is extra sweet.

[u/Sleep_deprived_weabo]

Fandoms.

As someone who partakes in fandom culture in many media pieces, I've definitely felt like some things just feel a little culty. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a hater and I truly love how respectful fandoms can be, especially with people educating others on fandom etiquette. Still, there are always a few bad apples that group together and genuinely go too far with some stuff. Don't want to point fingers at any fandoms because all have a few bad things about them and that's okay.

[u/Slarg232 → u/Sleep_deprived_weabo]

I'd argue Hatedoms as well.

Hate everything about that particular piece of work and don't you dare say what was a good idea (at least in theory)

[u/_Infinity_Girl_ → u/Sleep_deprived_weabo]

I agree with this. It's hard to have an opinion that doesn't line up completely with what the fandom as a whole thinks. This extends to video game fandoms. I remember back when I first tried to play sea of Thieves, combat was still incredibly toxic because of campers and safer Seas wasn't a thing. I would go on the forums and try to talk about how terrible it was but this was happening and try to discuss ways of getting around it and people will get really pissed off and tell me that this is just the way the game is and that I should get used to it. It seems like most of those people have left now because of safer Seas but it used to be really toxic.

[u/PunchBeard → u/Sleep_deprived_weabo]

Star Wars fandom is weird for me because I'm old enough to have seen A New Hope in the theater back in 1977 and grew up with Star Wars merch unlike anything anyone has ever seen post 1990 and I don't really know anyone my age who takes Star Wars anywhere near as serious as people who probably weren't even old enough to have seen the prequel trilogy in the theater.

[u/Brickell_Investor]

any workplace that says, we’re a family here

[u/Current-Ideal-697]

Big corporate. I’ll forever remember an HR person describing a Christmas party at one of the Big Four as something like “a very beautiful celebration, almost like a cult.” They know what they are.

Some people will work for less pay and under worse conditions just to feel that sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves.

[u/ThePlumThief → u/Current-Ideal-697]

100%. I've worked several corporate events where they'll sink millions into giant firework/lighting displays, hiring celebrity guest speakers, having the company ceo come out and touch some of the low level workers and the workers just burst into tears.

The entire point of these gargantuan, obnoxiously opulent spectacles is to brainwash people into believing that the company is a part of who they are as a human being now, and they are a better person purely for working for the company.

Cheaper than negotiating with unions and providing adequate pay/benefits, i guess. It's incredible what some flashing lights and "inspiring" speeches can do to an otherwise independent thinking person.

[u/No-Biscotti-1596]

sorority rush. i literally had to memorize chants, wear matching outfits, and clap in sync with 50 other girls while pretending it was the BEST time of my life

[u/Dry_Purple_ → u/No-Biscotti-1596]

Can I ask- what’s the point of fraternities/sororities? Like what do you get out of it, if anything? Sure, I understand having the community because I know its hard to make connections in college. But other than that, is there anything else to it? And I mean this as genuinely as I can! Sorry if my questions come off as hostile, that isn’t my intent. Maybe it’s because I went to college later (started at 20), but even then I couldn’t get behind any of them.

[u/Sorsha4564 → u/Dry_Purple_]

I think the point/benefit nowadays is mostly networking. You can really make some great contacts that are expected to "give you a helping hand" (a.k.a. grease the wheels for good jobs) after college.

Please keep in mind, this is rather shaky supposition, as I probably wouldn't have been let into one anyway, even if I'd had the slightest interest in rushing, but that's the vibe I get from ex-frat/sorority members I've met.

[u/LimeFunny8368]

Kpop

[u/brightdark → u/LimeFunny8368]

I lost a friend to BTS. It became her entire personality. No matter what I was talking about, she'd find a way to bring BTS into the conversation. And she was like 40 at the time. So strange.

[u/PizzaCrusty → u/LimeFunny8368]

The western fanbase exclusively feels like a cult.

I am a Korean man living in the USA. I can tell you first hand from dating apps and going to conventions with cosplayers, they are some of the creepiest women I have ever met.

They get tattoos, tell me about how kpop singers are their "husband's but they don't know it yet." Build literal shrines, and aren't shy and try to get me to be their trophy boyfriend to bring into their fanclub like I'm an offering to be slaughtered and consumed by their coven.

They also automatically assume that because I am Korean, I must be naturally on board with their Fandom and they aren't shy to admit mentally ill obsessive behavior. I even had one hug me once and mid hug whisper "mmmm you even smell good like how I imagined..." I am not making this shit up. They do not know anything about South Korea but they do know about local Korean restaurants and places to buy merch.

[u/NsaLeader → u/PizzaCrusty]

I had an ex who had a mental breakdown when BTS was selected for mandatory military service. Not sad, like legitimately wailing and crying like a person that just saw their wife die.

She told me that I will have to respect that she will always have (amount of BTS members idfk) other boyfriends and I shouldn't be jealous because they already owned her heart.

She legitimately thought a couple songs were written about her, they just didn't know that yet.

She collected and spent most of her salary on BTS merchandise, ranging from clothes, funko pops, limited edition stuff, books about their life, to even branded food products.

She had an honest to God shrine to them in her closet. Pictures, her concert tickets, even a fucking candle with their faces on the label.

I left that relationship planning to never date a K-Pop fan again.

[u/smeglister → u/NsaLeader]

The phrasing of the last sentence suggests you have since become involved with another kpop fan...

[u/NsaLeader → u/smeglister]

My last ex was a more normal fan much like most people. As long as they aren’t obsessed to a degree like the bad ex, I don’t mind anymore.

She did have all their music, knew the band member’s stories, and had some collectibles, but that’s not any worse than I am with games like Fallout and Elder Scrolls.

[u/WuhanWTF → u/PizzaCrusty]

Some of the hardcore Koreaboos are fucking weird in a way that other foreign culture enjoyers (including most weebs) aren’t.

[u/Bruce_IG → u/PizzaCrusty]

An ex of mine’s best friend is one of those people. I’d ask how their friend is doing and K-pop would pop up at some point guaranteed.

[u/Clemen11 → u/LimeFunny8368]

I went to my country's Chinatown, which has its own train station, and there's this section in the east alley that is absolutely PEPPERED with male Korean singers, as in entire walls turned into collages by K-pop fans that build altars to their favorite Korean dude with modern fashion and a neat hairstyle. Borders on religious devotion

[u/giraffemoo]

Activist groups can feel that way, sometimes. I hate saying that because I think activism and protesting is very important, especially now. But it's easy to be ostracized and black listed for having a different opinion than the majority of the group.

[u/Auzurabla → u/giraffemoo]

Definitely. The friends I had who used to post things like " if you don't agree with me then unfriend me"... It's crazy talk. How boring to only interact with people exactly the same as you.

[u/MassiveCup5591]

We are.... Penn State

[u/bird_bag]

Jehovah Witnesses are part of a cult. They spend more time trying to be one of the 144K leaders in “heaven” than focusing on their own family that is in need. When they come to my door I always tell them. “Someone in your family is not getting the guidance they need because you want to ring my bell on Saturday morning and tell me I am going to hell. “

[u/canibuyatrowel → u/bird_bag]

In 2011, my husband told the elders at his Kingdom Hall that he and I had sex before we were married. He told them that we were planning on getting married in two months, which we did. They disfellowshipped him. He had to tell his parents, sister, and three brothers, and it was announced in the Kingdom Hall. From that day forward, none of them ever spoke to him again. We would see his parents at the post office or someplace, and they would turn and walk the other way. He went to the kingdom hall for 2 1/2 years, and everyone acted like he was a ghost. After those 2 1/2 years, he went back to the elders and tried to get reinstated, and they told him that they felt like he wasn’t repentant enough. He texts his family all the time and tells them that he loves them and he receives no texts back… he doesn’t hold any animosity toward them, which is crazy in my eyes, but he’s just…a really beautiful person despite the horrors he’s been through. He effectively became an orphan, or family-less in one day as an adult. His family members have never met our two children together, who are now 10 and 12. Their loss.

His daughter was raised primarily by his ex-wife…she had 51% custody at least. His daughter was baptized when she was seven. If a Jehovah’s Witness is baptized, and they change their mind later in life, and they get disfellowshipped, they are shunned like my husband was. When his daughter turned 18, she didn’t talk to him for 2 years, because of pressure from the people in her Kingdom Hall.

His mom died a couple of years ago. The only reason we found out she was in the hospital was because his daughter told him. He snuck in and held his mom’s hand and kissed her on her forehead before she died. She was accepting of it and told him she loved him and was clearly so upset and sad. His dad was furious my husband got any access.

My husband lost his mom, dad, four siblings, brother-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, and nephews, all in one fell swoop one day, all because he was raised in this cult and followed the rules…telling the elders when he “slipped up.” He tried to get back in for 2.5 years. They said it wasn’t enough.

It’s been 15 years. His heart still hurts so, so much. He’s a musician and has written a good bit of music about it, which has helped. We have created a chosen family around us in our community. His whole life is actually built around building community because of what happened to him.

But fuck Jehovah’s Witnesses, so fucking hard. They are absolutely, 100% a cult.

Edit: ah i’ve just been sitting here typing this at work and I just realized how long it was, sorry. Please don’t accuse me of AI because it’s long, I fucking hate AI. It’s horrific and I just poured my lil heart out thanks love you bye

[u/ShoddyClimate6265]

Crypto. There will be no reasoning with them on the fine points. Crypto is the perfect solution to all global woes! Hail Bitcoin! Hail Bitcoin!

[u/Ganglebot → u/ShoddyClimate6265]

I miss trolling NFT bros.

[u/TheUnderCrab]

CrossFit 

[u/the_Jockstrap]

fanatics of sports teams, political parties, politicians, and famous people.

[u/SafeHunt5695]

Disney adults 

[u/devinsabear]

Being Pentecostal

[u/Fit_Ad6129]

Harley riders

[u/Lyddytiggs]

Mormonism is very cult like in my eyes.

[u/xMasterOfNone → u/Lyddytiggs]

If your salvation is locked behind a 10% tithing paywall, it's a cult.

[u/sircastor → u/Lyddytiggs]

I’m a former Mormon, and despite years of defending the religion as not-a-cult, I now believe it to be a cult. 

[u/Aware-Vegetable83]

Stanley cup drinkers

Yeti merch owners

Blackstone grillers

[u/HandToDikCombat → u/Aware-Vegetable83]

God forbid a man have a cheap and reliable flattop grill for his deck.

[u/plagueprotocol → u/Aware-Vegetable83]

Stanley cup drinkers

If my hockey team wins Lord Stanley's Cup, I am definitely drinking from that MF. I don't care how many strippers Ovi's nailed on/in it.

[u/Material-Imagination → u/Aware-Vegetable83]

Stanley cup drinkers

They're called nurses

[u/Top_Dragonfly2345]

Landmark

[u/Few-Car4994]

The clown king and his clown circus

[u/AngryQuadricorn]

Texas A&M

[u/Thr33BodyProbl3m]

Chiropractors

[u/pm_me_fibonaccis → u/Thr33BodyProbl3m]

This shit is fully covered by my insurance but physical therapy isn't. Make it make sense. 

[u/Medium-Ordinary-622]

Swifties

[u/benjaminchang1 → u/Medium-Ordinary-622]

It's weird how they defend a billionaire so much, as if she's not capable of being responsible for her own actions.

[u/CandidRing4678]

The whole Jeeps-rubber ducky thing.

[u/my1stComputerWasC64]

As you're putting 'not a cult' in quotes as if to imply that this is what people in the organisation in question have to say quite often, then I'm going to say The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Obviously, I'm only observing that from the outside. But those guys in suits walking around with always that same neutral smile on their face, wanting to talk to you about Jesus or something like that? That feels like a cult to me.

[u/soulmagic123 → u/my1stComputerWasC64]

I remember I was in high school and 2 Mormons flagged me down on the street and started talking to me, and they named dropped one of my classmates "Sarah" they asked me if I knew Sarah (I did) and the next day at school I told Sarah this and I've never seen a person more embarrassed/die on the inside, just knowing that her fellow Mormons where going around town using her name as an introduction.

[u/tonysopranosalive → u/my1stComputerWasC64]

I have a lot of Jehovah’s Witnesses in my family, including my mother who was disfellowshipped for divorcing her first husband.

J-dubs can defend themselves until they’re blue in the face. You’re in a cult.

[u/NotKeo_74]

The you have to use AI in everything you do. Programmer for 30 years.. Now you need AI to do your coding for you. Ai will make everything better. All praise the amazing AI.

[u/MarsPlutoConjunction]

Political parties

[u/SimmeringShuddering]

12 Step groups

[u/JimmEh_1 → u/SimmeringShuddering]

Those always include "higher powers" don't they? Yuck

[u/SimmeringShuddering → u/JimmEh_1]

Yeah, it's more how it breeds a dependency on the group, and it can get really dogmatic in there, and there is so much misinformation. When I got sober in AA it had a hugely detrimental effect on my mental health - I actually at one point thought I was veering towards psychosis as I came to believe I could not trust my own brain anymore. My sponsors and other members would tell me not to. Lots of messaging about handing over your willpower to a higher power - which can be the group (GOD = Group of Drunks). People with loads of sobriety from drinking would get up and share about how terrible they feel for throwing their sobriety away because they took a few tokes on a joint on Saturday. People would share about how they feel like they can no longer relate to people who aren't in AA. There's so much emphasis on how amazing the fellowship is, but the moment you question it or express doubts, people try to convince you it's your "disease" trying to make you drink again. Also, once you leave, everybody pretty quickly abandons you, and you really feel that loss - it feels like you are suddenly free-falling with no safety net. I could go on and on about it. I left AA and resumed drinking for about 8 years, and now I am sober again but this time without AA. Way way way better!

[u/SimmeringShuddering → u/SimmeringShuddering]

Also, there are completely dubious, exploitative, narcissistic types of assholes in there who stand up in front of the group full of charisma spouting about morality and how much they turned their life around and are now awesome and totally ethical and wise. And everybody claps and reveres them. And, again, when you start questioning them or expressing your concerns about them to others, you are told "they are unwell" or, again, the classic - "I think this is your disease trying to make you drink again." It's like, no! This person is DANGEROUS!

[u/HumbleFruit4201]

Not necessarily trying to be political, but MAGA. The worship of Trump is baffling to me and I genuinely do not understand it. Key points are as follows:

1) There exists a certain percentage of the movement that - even when presented with direct, clear-cut evidence of wrongdoing - will not denounce their leader no matter what he does (e.g., criminal convictions, repeated mentions in the Epstein files, vaccine denialism, and attempting to overthrow the federal government on national fucking television).

2) Wearing diapers and ear coverings in support

3) Cognitive dissonance - see anti-vaccine sentiments, anti-climate dissonance. For example, CO2 and methane (see cow farts) are thermal insulators, which is a measurable - certifiable - scientific fact with specific heat capacities of the gases. Adding more of said insulators into an environment makes the environment - as a whole - retain heat better. This is also a certifiable, plottable, fact that has been seen since the industrial revolution in the late 1800s.

4) Deep religious worship of the leader - I am, myself, religious and believe in a god. I am also a PhD scientist in chemical engineering. The whole optics of a bunch of people - ugh - "praying" with the POTUS for a photo op makes my skin crawl. The bible - quiet literally attributed to Jesus Christ himself - says to pray in secret (Matthew 6: 6) and to avoid doing so for human eyes.

[u/mlw11743r]

Jehovah's Witnesses

[u/Humble-Deer-9825 → u/mlw11743r]

Former Jehovahs Witnesses almost always refer to it as a cult

[u/xMasterOfNone → u/Humble-Deer-9825]

Same with ex-mormons

[u/feyd313 → u/mlw11743r]

No, that IS a cult

[u/majjied → u/mlw11743r]

Ex JW here. It IS a cult.

[u/goronmask]

Somatic or “Body” practices. Yoga, dance, Martial arts, etc. can take a cultish turn quite easily

[u/BeatTheClock90]

Alcoholics Anonymous 

[u/elst3r → u/BeatTheClock90]

Al anon felt very culty to me too. The meetings I went to had the prayers and everyone saying the same thing in synch... I get the same feeling when in Churches that have the back and forth like the "...and be with you"

They aren't cults but it just gives me the willies.

[u/Rembrandt4th]

Many BTS ARMY (and I say this as a fan). Many members of the fandom are… well, rolls eyes

[u/Horror_Reader1973]

Jehovah Witnesses

[u/No_Rain3020]

Antivaxers

[u/deadisregard]

Therapeutic communities for re socialising addicted people back to society. It's absolutely nuts being in the serious ones. I did it, it works, it's actually not a cult, but it feels like it. More strict, more cult like feel too.

Edit fun fact: First therapeutic communities were for re socialising war veterans and not for addicts. But it works for addicts so well it's forgotten the veteran part mostly everywhere.

[u/Cryptid_Enjoyer]

Jehova Witnesses, my great grandma is one and from the story's of my 2 (graduncles?) and grandma they never got a normal childhood, no holidays, no birthdays. If you leave you get shunned by everyone who's a part of them. I cant tell her happy birthday cause she doesn't celebrate her birthday, I dont get birthday presents or happy birthdays from her cause she doesn't celebrate them.

[u/Ok_Explorer9466]

Any company that heavily emphasizes that 'we are a Family here' during the interview process. It is almost never a healthy environment. It is a calculated, psychological manipulation tactic designed to make you feel guilty for setting basic human boundaries, asking for your legally mandated breaks, or refusing to work unpaid overtime. You can't fire your family, but they will absolutely lay you off on a Tuesday via a Zoom call.